Ashley Brien Author

Patricia A. Prelock, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, F-ASHA, FNAP-SLP, is a recognized expert in the nature and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and has been awarded nearly $25 million dollars in university, state and federal funding as a PI or Co-PI to develop innovations in interdisciplinary training supporting children and youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families, to facilitate training in speech-language pathology, and to support her intervention work in ASD. She has over 215 publications and 595 peer-reviewed and invited presentations/ keynotes in the areas of autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities, collaboration, IPE, leadership, and language learning disabilities. In 2019, she was named Associate Editor for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Dr. Prelock received the University of Vermont’s Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000, was named an ASHA Fellow in 2000 and a University of Vermont Scholar in 2003. In 2011, she was named the Cecil & Ida Green Honors Professor Visiting Scholar at Texas Christian University and in 2015 Dr. Prelock was named a Distinguished Alumna of the University of Pittsburgh. In 2016, she received the ASHA Honors of the Association and in 2017 she was named a Distinguished Alumna of Cardinal Mooney High School. Dr. Prelock also received the 2018 Jackie M. Gribbons Leadership Award from Vermont Women in Higher Education. Dr. Prelock is a Board-Certified Specialist in Child Language and was named a Fellow in the National Academies of Practice (NAP) in speech-language pathology in 2018. She was the 2013 President for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and was President of the ASHFoundation in 2020 and 2021.

Ashley Brien, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an ASHA certified speech language pathologist. She received her MS in Communication Sciences and Disorders and her PhD in Interprofessional Health Sciences from the University of Vermont. She has instructed many courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of autism, social cognition, augmentative and alternative communication, disability, and research methods. Additionally, she provides intervention in speech, language, AAC, and social communication to children and adolescents and their families. Dr. Brien’s research focuses on the development, implementation, and social validity of family-centered interventions to support social learning and episodic memory in individuals with autism. She has also designed intervention materials to support social cognition and communication in a variety of populations with social learning challenges. She has written about her work in several peer-reviewed articles and presented her findings nationally and internationally. She is also co-author of the book Supporting Social Learning in Autism: An Autobiographical Memory Program to Promote Communication and Connection.